About one in three people with a credit file in Hardin County, Texas, has unpaid debt sent to a collector
In Hardin County, 33.8% of people with a credit file had unpaid debt sent to a collector. That is higher than in 83% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 60% of U.S. counties.
What drives Hardin County's score
In Hardin County, late payments on loans weigh most: the score for late payments on loans is 68.5. About one in two people (46.8%, Q2 2026) has a subprime credit score, a higher share than in 71% of U.S. counties. Collections and bankruptcy comes next, at 67.5.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Hardin County: jobs, late payments on loans, income and the safety net, collections and bankruptcy, and housing costs. Each part is scored from 0 to 100, and a higher score means worse off than other counties.
Hardin County does better than most counties on two measures: median household income ($81,183, 2024) and rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income (18.0%, fiscal year 2027).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 68.5 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind6.8% · August 202570th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind6.1% · August 202563rd percentile
- People with a subprime credit score46.8% · second quarter of 202671st percentile
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- 67.5 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector33.8% · August 202583rd percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people128.7 · 202551st percentile
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- 64.2 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year4.6% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202669th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working22.1% · 2020 to 202458th percentile
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- 44.3 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line10.8% · 202429th percentile
- Children below the poverty line13.8% · 202432nd percentile
- People with a disability16.0% · 2020 to 202450th percentile
- People without health insurance15.9% · 2020 to 202491st percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$81,183 · 202418th percentile
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- 39.8 of 100
Housing costs
Renters, 2020–24 Census survey; HUD's fair market rents, fiscal year 2027
- Renters paying half their income or more in rent19.5% · 2020 to 202458th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income18.0% · fiscal year 202721st percentile
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Sources: Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rents and Census income; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. County Distress Index by American Default Research, from data through Sep 2026.
Where the money in Hardin County comes from
Benefit checks are Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid paid on people's behalf, veterans' benefits, and food and income support, so a high share usually means an older population, low pay, or both. In Hardin County, 17.7% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Hardin County
Texas
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Hardin County, benefit checks' share of income has more than doubled since 1969, reaching 24.1% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in more than twice as much as benefit checks
In Hardin County, Texas, benefit checks' share of income more than doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 24.1%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Hardin County getting SNAP food aid had its largest rise, from 10.3% in 2019 to 12.4% in 2020.
The share of households in Hardin County getting SNAP food aid was at its highest on the chart in 2013 and has since fallen to 12.9%
Low on the chart: 9.8% in 2018. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Hardin County, Texas.
How Hardin County has changed
Hardin County's population doubled to 58,670, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 1974 to 1979, reaching 39,548. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Hardin County, Texas.
The number of jobs located in Hardin County had its largest rise, from 7,008 in 1990 to 9,372 in 1995.
The number of jobs located in Hardin County nearly doubled from 1990 to 2020, reaching 12,609, then turned down in 2025
High on the chart: 12,810 in 2015. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Hardin County, Texas.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 6.3% | 2025 4.5% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 14.5% | 2024 10.8% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $26,343 | 2024 $81,183 |
The table uses 4.5% for 2025; the score uses 4.6% for the latest year (Oct 2025 to Sep 2026), both from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Figures are as each agency published them, not adjusted for prices.
Dated events in Hardin County's history
2004
A tornado in November 2004 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
2017
A flash flood in August 2017 did $600 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2018
Lightning in February 2018 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
2019
A flash flood in September 2019 did $8 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 56,231, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
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Since 1973
32 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Hardin County, 10 of them for flooding. FEMA
Hardin County beside its neighbors
All six counties that border Hardin County score higher than it does. Of the group, Hardin County gets the smallest share of its income from benefit checks; Polk County gets the largest, at 40.5%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty County, TX | 95 | 17.8% | 24.2% |
| Jefferson County, TX | 94 | 21.3% | 26.6% |
| Tyler County, TX | 91 | 16.3% | 36.0% |
| Polk County, TX | 89 | 14.5% | 40.5% |
| Orange County, TX | 82 | 13.8% | 26.4% |
| Jasper County, TX | 79 | 15.9% | 34.0% |
| Hardin County, TX | 60 | 10.8% | 24.1% |
Distress score: American Default Research, County Distress Index, data through Sep 2026; each county scored against all 3,144. Poverty rate: Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2024. Benefit checks: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. Neighbors share a border, from Census county maps.
Is Hardin County the poorest county in Texas?
No, Hardin County's poverty rate was 10.8% in 2024, 214th highest of 254 in Texas (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Starr County, at 35.4%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Hardin County ranks 148th of 254 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Hardin County
Housing counselors approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development work at nonprofit agencies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes free foreclosure-avoidance counseling, including help with mortgage-company conversations and available options Source CFPB.
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Lone Star Legal Aid
Legal aid
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HUD-approved housing counselors
Our help directory lists 1,010 agencies approved for foreclosure counseling, by state.
The score, its 14 measures and their sources, in one file. Free to use with credit to American Default Research.
Download the CSV for Hardin County · Every U.S. county (CSV)
Sources and method
- American Default Research · County Distress Index Data through Sep 2026, built from Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; Census Bureau, American Community Survey; HUD Fair Market Rents and Census income; Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. The County Distress Index is American Default Research's own calculation; the Urban Institute does not produce or endorse it. Our methodology
- Urban Institute · Debt in America Breno Braga, Signe-Mary McKernan, Samantha Atherton, and Kassandra Martinchek, "Debt in America," last updated November 20, 2025, https://datacatalog.urban.org/dataset/debt-america-2025. Licensed under ODC-By 1.0.
- Rent on a two-bedroom and household income The rent share compares HUD fair market rent for fiscal year 2027 with Census Bureau median household income for 2024. The page calls this the typical household's income.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (CAINC4) · income shares Where the money in Hardin County comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.